Half Dome Cables Up For The Season on Wednesday, June 16, 2010Date: June 9, 2010

The cables allowing access for hikers to the summit of Half Dome will be in place and open for the season on Wednesday, June 16, 2010.

The trail to Half Dome from Yosemite Valley is an extremely strenuous hike covering over 17 miles. Hikers gain 4,800 feet of elevation along the trail that passes highlights such as Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall, before reaching the cables on Half Dome’s steep granite shoulder. Metal cables and wooden planks are placed along the steep shoulder of the dome to assist hikers to the summit.

Visitors are required to have a permit to ascend the Half Dome cables on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. The majority of the permits have been reserved already. For more information on permits and availability, please visit www.recreation.gov. No permits are required for the Half Dome cables Monday through Thursday. Visitors hiking the trail leading up to the base of the Half Dome cables do not need a permit.

Visitors are advised to take appropriate precautions when planning a hike of this length and difficulty, and to be prepared for changing weather and trail conditions. Thunder and lightning are common occurrences in the High Sierra during the summer and fall seasons. Hikers should not attempt to summit Half Dome during thunderstorms and are advised to use extreme caution when the rocks are wet.

Where exactly will the checkpoint be located? I thought I read a few months back, on the park's web site, that the permit will be required to ascend the subdome as well, and not just the cables. But the announcement above says that no permit is required up to the base of the cables. Is that where they will check for the permit, right where the cables start?

QuoteBob Weaver
Where exactly will the checkpoint be located? I thought I read a few months back, on the park's web site, that the permit will be required to ascend the subdome as well, and not just the cables. But the announcement above says that no permit is required up to the base of the cables. Is that where they will check for the permit, right where the cables start?

You read correctly, you can't go on the subdome w/o a permit. There is some other FAQ or something I read that says you can't wait at the base fo the cables w/ others that have permits. The announcement actually says, "Visitors hiking the trail leading up to the base of the Half Dome cables do not need a permit." The "trail" effectively ends at the subdome (and then you're on the Sierra Stairmaster). For me the obvious place for the rangers to camp out is at the benches right before the subdome.

Woah. I was just thinking. What would prevent permit-less people at the base waiting for hikers coming down the cable and bumming their permits? Or even hikers coming down and scalping their permits to permit-less people waiting down below? Do the rangers check ID along with the permit? It sounds like this is going to be a recipe for abuse.

Quotemrcondron
I would suspect that if permits are checked at the base of the cables by a ranger the permit would be collected or marked used or whatever.

Well - the permit is one that is printed by the purchaser, so there's nothing preventing someone from printing multiple copies. I thought they had the permit holder's name on them, so perhaps they might do a check on the name. Since it's only about 400 day use permits per day, they could do something like when I've voted, where the names are checked off against a master list.

Print at home ticketing has created a whole new problem. I've been to some events where some scalpers have been trying to sell print at home tickets. Even if the scalper is well known and trusted (quite a few are regulars) there's nothing preventing someone from selling a second copy and going in, although there generally is a paper trail. The other thing I've heard of are people having their bar coded tickets scanned and then dropping it to a friend to sell the used ticket to an unwitting scalper.

"Tickets will be mailed to you (at least 14 days prior) to your scheduled arrival. Be sure to bring your tickets with you on the day of your hike; You must have this ticket when you ascend the cables."

Where did you read it was a self print process? There seems to be a conflict.

I also think that the "base of the cables" is just that. Not prior to the trip over the "sub dome".

"Tickets will be mailed to you (at least 14 days prior) to your scheduled arrival. Be sure to bring your tickets with you on the day of your hike; You must have this ticket when you ascend the cables."

Where did you read it was a self print process? There seems to be a conflict.

I also think that the "base of the cables" is just that. Not prior to the trip over the "sub dome".

For some reason I thought it was a print it yourself process like printing a receipt for a campground reservation. In that case, I would think that once you get there and the ticket is checked, it should be cancelled.

I would hope they have them cancelled once used. I guess it won't be as bad as I originally feared. I went on craigslist and eBay. I expected to see HD permits being scalped but couldn't find anything posted. A lot of requests for permits though.

Quotemrcondron
Are the permits transferable?Yes. You can give a permit to anyone else, but each permit can only be used once. Permits cannot be resold or auctioned.

I guess the thought of the feds coming after you has kept them off of public auction sites. They could be given away though.

eBay will kill any attempts to resell reservations from the National Recreation Reservation System. I've seen the occasional listing that was set to close in a week, but was de-listed within hours. In addition, they don't allow for listings of any lodging or travel unless one is certified as a member of a particular travel organization. I guess campground reservations count as lodging.

I remember trying to find out more about the market rate for the US Open golf tournament in 2000. I had tickets, but I was curious how much they might go for on eBay. Apparently the USGA told eBay that they weren't authorized to list them, and eBay took down nearly every listing quickly. The only exception was for charity auctions where the USGA had approved the listing, as well as spent tickets (as souvenirs) after the tournament was over.

I would have bet money there were permits up for sale on ebay or craigslist. I have seen campsite reservations up for sale on craigslist. Good to know there won't be a huge commercial interest for HD permits when they become available. At least it makes it fair for anyone wanting to hike HD.

Anybody know the demand of HD permits when they become available? Are they gone within minutes like campsites?

I would have bet money there were permits up for sale on ebay or craigslist. I have seen campsite reservations up for sale on craigslist. Good to know there won't be a huge commercial interest for HD permits when they become available. At least it makes it fair for anyone wanting to hike HD.

Anybody know the demand of HD permits when they become available? Are they gone within minutes like campsites?

Well, just for kicks, I went on the site to see what availability was for one (1) person today and there's nothing available until October 1 or something stupid like that. I'm backpacking thru there midweek in about 10 days, so not an issue for me.

I would have bet money there were permits up for sale on ebay or craigslist. I have seen campsite reservations up for sale on craigslist. Good to know there won't be a huge commercial interest for HD permits when they become available. At least it makes it fair for anyone wanting to hike HD.

Anybody know the demand of HD permits when they become available? Are they gone within minutes like campsites?

$150 gets you 3 nights at Upper Pines on the weekend plus 4 HD permits (dates weren't specified for HD). The total cost to the seller was $60 for the reservations plus $6 for the HD permits. Tack in $10 to transfer the campground reservations.

The strange thing is that if the seller doesn't couldn't make it and really want to profit from it, a full refund of the campground reservation can be had, less a $10 cancellation fee I think.